The WHO today asked countries like India to close the immunisation gap to avert 1.5 million deaths globally due to vaccine-preventable diseases.

"India is one of the countries for the size of its population (that has less than 80 per cent vaccine coverage). If (for example) you have 70 per cent coverage, for a place like India, (in terms) of absolute numbers, lot of children (will be unvaccinated)," Jean Marie Okwo-Bele, World Health Organization (WHO) Director of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals said.

Experts agree that in order to successfully eradicate polio, vaccinators must be protected as they fulfill their duties, Global Health Council Executive Director Christine Sow said Monday in a blog posting.

Eradicating polio has become one of the most notable vaccine campaigns, Sow said. As of today, 99 percent of the world is free of polio, but three countries still have endemic polio outbreaks: Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan. These countries pose a health threat to neighboring nations, as the polio virus is carried across borders.

Progress towards global vaccination targets for 2015 is far off-track with 1 in 5 children still missing out on routine life-saving immunizations that could avert 1.5 million deaths each year from preventable diseases. In the lead-up to World Immunization Week 2015 (24–30 April), WHO is calling for renewed efforts to get progress back on course.

Efforts to increase the number of children who are vaccinated against infectious diseases such as polio and measles have been boosted by the launch of a new ankle band that changes colour to remind parents when their child’s next vaccine shot should be given.

The band, announced by Pakistani researchers last week, is designed to alert parents when each round of vaccine is needed by sending “clear visual markers” over the first four months of a child’s life.

A 5-day nationwide polio immunization campaign targeting 5.8 million children under 5 years of age will begin in Iraq on Sunday 12 April. The campaign will be marked by launch events on 12 April in Baghdad, organized by the Ministry of Health, and on 13 April in Erbil organized by the Kurdistan regional Ministry of Health. Representatives of WHO and UNICEF will attend both events with Rotary International attending the launch in Erbil.